A Touch of Normalcy
by AJ Rayne
Summary: Sydney makes dinner for Vaughn. In the process, they both allow their barriers to go down, and their mutual attraction to each other grows into something more.
1. Part One: Preparations

Part One: Preparations  
  
  
  
Sydney walked slowly down the aisle, eyeing the numerous cans. A small wrinkle had formed between her brows and her lips thinned as she searched. She gave this task the same concentration she usually gave a bomb or a new Rambaldi artifact.  
  
This one small fact made Michael Vaughn smile. He hadn't expected anything else from her, knowing how careful she was with everything else she did. It was just more comical when her seriousness was aimed at something as mundane as grocery shopping. He had been watching Sydney make her way up the aisle for the past five minutes, amused that a skilled spy such as herself had not noticed him at all.  
  
"What's so funny, Vaughn," Sydney said suddenly, not looking in his direction.  
  
The smile was immediately wiped off his face.  
  
"I could smell your aftershave," she told him, taking his breath away with a sunny smile. "Come to watch the show? As you can tell, I'm not very good at this." She eyed his shopping cart, a lonely box of cereal the sole product in it. "I hope that that box means you just got here and haven't been wandering around aimlessly like me."  
  
"I did just get here. I'm a frequent customer to this particular store, though, so if you'd like, I can act as your tour guide."  
  
Sydney regarded him thoughtfully and he silently cursed himself for breaching their unspoken agreement; they were not to involve themselves in each other's private lives. It was too much of a temptation for both to make their relationship more. Yet, he could not help himself and when she smiled, he knew that she could not either.  
  
He smiled and held out his hand. "Let's see your list."  
  
She handed him a crumpled piece of paper. His eyes ran down the list and he spotted what she had been looking for. He looked around and with a snap of his fingers, reached out to the shelf next to him, pulling out a single can. Holding it out to her, he smiled smugly.  
  
"Could this be what you were looking for?"  
  
Sydney crossed her arms, arching her eyebrow. "You scare me sometimes."  
  
"Come on," he said, pushing his cart. "We've got our work cut out for us."  
  
An hour and a half later, they were pushing two full carts to the cash register.  
  
"Thanks for the help, " Sydney said. "It would have taken me three hours to get through this place without you. Kinda makes investment banking look easy."  
  
He laughed, appreciating the true meaning of her words. "Yeah, it kinda does. So, how did you make your way here anyway? Isn't it a little far from your neck of the woods?"  
  
"I was in the neighborhood," she answered, moving her attention from him to placing her groceries on the conveyor belt. "So how about dinner? I may not be much of a shopper, but I'm a pretty good cook."  
  
They exchanged a look.  
  
"Do you think it'll be alright?" she murmured.  
  
"Why not, Honey? Come on, man. Don't let this pretty girl eat dinner alone," the cashier said boisterously.  
  
Vaughn laughed despite himself and saw Sydney throw him a smile out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"You know, you're right," he said conversationally. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I let her eat alone? I am at your mercy, Syd. How about we do this at my place though since it is closer?"  
  
"You're on." Sydney grinned at the cashier, glancing at his nametag. "Thanks, Ray. You're very persuasive."  
  
"Tell that to my wife," Ray said with a wink.  
  
Vaughn watched Sydney joke with Ray, a small nugget of worry forming in his mind. He could only imagine the ramifications of what their simple dinner if anyone of importance found out. They were both skilled enough to avoid detection, but it would be foolish not to worry. Still, they both needed a touch of normalcy in order to survive in the world they lived in. With that thought, he forced himself not to worry and turned his attention to convincing Sydney that going back to get more food was not a good idea.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Sydney entered Vaughn's apartment, her curious eyes darting around. It was sparsely furnished, but the soft, comfortable-looking deep blue couch and oak coffee table was what she expected of him. So, was the big screen tv and state of the art entertainment system. The hardwood floors were a nice touch, giving the place a nice open feeling. The persian rug sitting underneath the coffee table particularly caught her attention. She walked further in and stood at the large windows which opened out into a balcony teeming with plants.  
  
"You have a green thumb," she said wonderingly.  
  
"It's just a hobby," he muttered. "You like the place?"  
  
She smiled at him, touched by the slightly nervous look on his face. "Yes, I do. It's very...you."  
  
He returned her smile, relief evident on his countenance. He took off his suit jacket and tossed it on the couch. "Come on, let's drop these off in the kitchen and you can start making that dinner you promised. What are you making anyway?"  
  
She smiled, slightly embarrassed. "I might have exagerrated a little bit by saying I was a better cook than shopper. How does lasagna sound?"  
  
"Better than you think," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's get this lasagna started then."  
  
The kitchen was off the living room and led into a small dining room. Sydney peeked in the room and saw that it was simple, but elegant. A glass- topped table, surrounded by four cushioned, cream-colored chairs. Two candles sat in the middle of the table, waiting to be lit. It was a very romantic looking room, and Sydney wondered what inspired Vaughn to decorate it the way it was. There were no windows in this room, giving it a sense of intimacy, and Sydney felt a flutter of nervousness in her stomach. However, a fine layer of dust on the table caught her attention, telling her that it hadn't been used for quite some time. She took a step back and face Vaughn who was putting his groceries in his refridgerator.  
  
"Want something to drink?" he asked her. "I've got pretty much everything."  
  
"A can of Tsing-Tao?" she inquired, naming her favorite brand of Chinese beer.  
  
He threw her a dry look. "Almost everything. Would you settle for a Heineken?"  
  
"I suppose so. How about a tour of the kitchen so I can get this dinner started?"  
  
He opened up a bottle for her and put it on the counter. The kitchen was just as airy as the living room, with skylights instead of windows. He opened up almost all the cupboards and drawers, showing her what she would need. Sydney rolled up her sleeves and tied on the apron he handed to her.  
  
"Okay, I'm ready," she said. "Go watch TV or something."  
  
"No way." He took his tie off and placed it on top of the fridge. "I'm helping. Just give me something to chop."  
  
Sydney's eyes followed his hands as he unbuttoned the two top buttons of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. She had always thought Vaughn to be very attractive, but never more so at that moment.  
  
"Don't think I'm doing this because I want to lighten your workload. I'm just really hungry," he joked, seemingly unaware of her eyes upon him.  
  
Sydney picked out a large pot and filled it with water. "Well, what else could I expect from my handler?"  
  
The second the words passed her lips, Sydney wished she could take them back. Vaughn had just begun to relax and he tensed up all over again, his hands stilling on the onion he had begun to chop. She turned quickly to put the pot on the stove, spilling some water over the top of it.  
  
"Uh...a w-whip maybe," he tried weakly.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said.  
  
"No. I guess we were stupid in thinking we could pretend we were a normal couple."  
  
Sydney felt her heart skip a beat. "You think of us as a couple?"  
  
A momentary feeling of panic made Vaughn wince, but he regained his footing. "You know the smell of my aftershave?"  
  
They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Before she could lose her nerve, Sydney kissed his cheek, but she didn't move away when he expected.  
  
"How about we pretend a little while longer?" she whispered in his ear.  
  
He turned his head slightly and he could feel her lips brush his cheek again. "Okay," he answered, swallowing hard. "No one followed you here, right?"  
  
"No one. There are no hidden cameras here, right?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
"About as sure as you are about no one following you here."  
  
Sydney threw him an exasperated look. "Alright."  
  
Vaughn turned back to his onion. "All I have to say is that this may be our last meal so you better make it good."  
  
Sydney gaped at him.  
  
He smiled slightly and shrugged. "Bad joke?"  
  
She then laughed so hard, that she hung on to the edge of the counter to keep her balance. Vaughn laughed, more so because of her laughter than his own joke.  
  
"That was horrible," she managed to say minutes later. "I should put extra pepper on your half of the lasagna for that one."  
  
"I like pepper," he said, sniffing.  
  
"You like it so much it makes you cry?" she teased, elbowing him out of the way.  
  
"Yes," he replied. "Are there any safe vegetables I can cut?"  
  
"No, but you can put the pasta in the pot."  
  
Still sniffing, Vaughn opened up a box of pasta and slid its contents into the pot. Sydney watched him, a warmth settling over her. This was what she had been missing. This intimacy, this closeness with another human being. With Vaughn, she had no secrets...except the ones she kept in her heart.  
  
Vaughn felt her eyes on him and he turned to meet her gaze.  
  
"This is fun," he said.  
  
"Yes. It is," she agreed wholeheartedly.  
  
  
  
* * * 


	2. Part Two: Dinner For Two

Part Two: Dinner For Two  
  
  
  
Sydney jumped up when the oven timer went off. She had been sitting next to Vaughn on the couch for the past forty-five minutes, struggling to pay attention to the show they were watching, but not quite able to because of his closeness. For his part, he seemed unaffected by her, laughing at the antics of the characters on TV. Although, she did notice that when she brushed up against him, he grew still.  
  
"Is it ready?" he asked her, craning his head in order to look into the kitchen.  
  
"Yes, sir. Come and get it."  
  
Clapping his hands, he stood and strode into the kitchen. Sydney was holding the lasagna out in front of her and Vaughn's mouth began to water when its aroma reached his nose. He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of red wine that he had been saving for a special occasion. Sydney eyed the label and she looked surprised, but she didn't say anything. She only touched his cheek and turned to bring the lasagna into the dining room where he had set two places. Vaughn placed two wine glasses next to each place setting and lit the two candles in the center of the table.  
  
"This looks wonderful," he said, putting a hand on her back, looking at the cozy setting before them.  
  
"It does. Let me go get the salad and we'll be ready to eat. Pour the wine."  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
When they were finally seated and the salad had been served, they found an awkward silence settle between them. The candlelight and dim overhead lights made the atmosphere much too romantic for either of their comfort, but at the same time, it was something they had both wanted for a long time.  
  
"This looks good," Sydney said, staring at her plate.  
  
"Eat it," Vaughn suggested, none too delicately.  
  
"Thanks for the tip."  
  
The sounds of crunching filled the air for a time, and Sydney was afraid her face was getting as red as the wine. She took a sip, hoping it would loosen her tongue, but he beat her to it.  
  
"Tell me about your friends," he said. "They seem like such a big part of your life and I don't know anything about them other than their names."  
  
"Let's see. Francie is my best friend in the world. She was engaged a while ago, I don't know if you remember, but I found out her fiance was cheating on her so she broke it off. It took her a while to get back on her feet, but she's started dating again and she's getting better. She's kinda...she's a motherly figure, I guess you could say. I always feel like she's taking care of me and watching out for me, which is good. Some days, I forget to eat, but she's always there, shoving a plate of food under my nose."  
  
"She's one-in-a-million. I don't think Weiss would ever make me a plate of food. He won't even buy me a beer."  
  
Sydney chuckled. "That's why you have other friends."  
  
"You'd think so," Vaughn said with a theatrical sigh. "But the life of a CIA agent is a lonely road..."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"No...maybe sometimes. Anyway, go on."  
  
"You're a pretty funny guy."  
  
"See, all we needed was a conversation that lasted more than half an hour. All it takes is patience to get to the real Michael Vaughn."  
  
"Michael," Sydney tested out, rolling the name around her tongue. "Mike."  
  
He regarded her curiously. "Yes, Sydney. Syd."  
  
"You're not a Mike," she said firmly. "More a Michael, but definitely a Vaughn."  
  
He grinned. "Is that right? Well, I always hated being called Mike, my mother and my other friends call me Michael. You're one of the elite who call me Vaughn. Bristow...doesn't have quite the same ring to it. You're a Sydney."  
  
"I always thought so."  
  
"So, tell me about Will."  
  
Sydney looked at him carefully, seeing a tightness to his features that she only noticed when Will was mentioned. If she didn't know better, she would say that Vaughn was jealous of him and the thought that Vaughn cared enough about her to be jealous lit a small fire inside her.  
  
"He's as close to me as Francie is and I've known him a long time. He knew Danny. After he died, Will's become more protective of me. Once...once I kissed him."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't know," she lied easily, remembering exactly why. "I guess I was feeling lonely that night and I wanted to see if there could be more between us. Will's always had feelings for me, but he never tried anything, in respect to Danny's memory, so it was really up to me."  
  
Vaughn was carefully tearing up a large lettuce leaf. "What happened?"  
  
"It wasn't there. He's definitely not my soulmate or anything like that. Will's a friend, nothing more. Things were weird for a while, but we're back to normal now."  
  
He relaxed. "That's good then. They're your support system and it would be a shame to lose one."  
  
"Yes, it would. Now, its my turn to play interrogator. What made you decide to decorate the dining room like this?" she questioned. "It's very...very..."  
  
"Intimate?" he offered before he thought better of it. For a CIA agent, he'd had too many verbal slips for one night. Then again, only Sydney could make him act like an awkward teenager.  
  
Sydney almost dropped her fork. She adjusted her grip on it and answered with a shaky, "Y-Yes."  
  
"It wasn't my idea actually," he said reluctantly, carefully avoiding her inquiring gaze. "It was Alice's."  
  
Sydney tensed at the name of his ex-fiancÃ©e. "Oh."  
  
"She meant to redecorate the entire apartment and this was the only room she got to before we broke up."  
  
"How did it happen?"  
  
"She looked through magazines, went to about a dozen shops, dragging me along with her..."  
  
Sydney laughed. "Not decorating the room, Vaughn. I meant, how did you two break up."  
  
His eyes crinkled as he smiled, embarrassed. "Oh. I knew that. Well, I couldn't see her fitting into my life because I knew that after a while she would begin to question why I would have to leave the house in the middle of the night and not return for days at a time. She already started to when we were together and...it got on my nerves a little bit."  
  
"Well, you can't expect her to cater to your every whim," Sydney said.  
  
"No, but I also realized that I didn't care about her enough to work on it. I didn't love her, Syd."  
  
"That's a better reason. Your mom must have been disappointed."  
  
"Not really. She just wanted me to be happy."  
  
"She seems like a nice lady."  
  
He reached across the table and put his hand over hers. "She would like you," he said earnestly. "I wish you could meet her."  
  
Sydney turned her hand over and clasped his. "Me, too."  
  
They stared at each other over the candlelight. With her free hand, Sydney cupped his cheek. Keeping his eyes on her, Vaughn leaned forward and very lightly brushed his lips against hers, but Sydney felt it right down to her toes.  
  
"What was that for?" she inquired.  
  
"I don't know," he said honestly. "I guess it was a thank you for this night."  
  
"We haven't even gotten to the lasagna yet."  
  
He grinned suddenly, a disarming expression that Sydney had never seen on his face before. He seemed so free and uninhibited.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"If this lasagna's good, wait and see what'll happen after dinner," he teased, waggling his eyebrows comically.  
  
Sydney gasped in surprise then let out a delighted laugh. He joined in and began carving up the main course.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Sydney sat on the kitchen counter, her long legs swinging, and a glass of wine in one hand as Vaughn washed their dishes. She was interested to learn that Vaughn took special care in washing dishes, his long-fingered hands gripping the sponge and moving carefully across each plate to make sure nothing was left on its surface. He confessed to her that it was therapeutic after a long day's work, to come home and do something as simple as washing the dishes. Sydney found his practice endearing and told him so.  
  
"How's the wine?" he asked.  
  
"It's very good, but you didn't have to crack it open for me. I saw the label. It's not exactly a brand you would find at the grocery store."  
  
"I wanted to. When will we be able to do this again?"  
  
She sighed and took a sip. "That's true."  
  
Vaughn put the last dish on the drying rack and wiped his hands on the dishtowel he had tucked into the waist of his pants. "Want to take this show to the living room? The couch is pretty comfortable and I can turn some music on."  
  
Sydney glanced at her watch reluctantly. "It's getting late and I've already been here too long."  
  
Vaughn looked put out an she reached out to rest her forearms on his shoulders. She leaned forward as he took a step towards her, and she looked hard into his eyes. "Do you think we'll be able to do this again?"  
  
"I'd like to, but we're already playing with fire here."  
  
"At least it was a good dinner," she sighed, resting her forehead against his.  
  
"The best. Which reminds me, I owe you something."  
  
"What?"  
  
A slow smile spread across his face and before she could ask why he was smiling, he pressed his lips against hers. Sydney swallowed her surprised and kissed him back with all the passion she had been hiding and keeping at bay. Arms tightening around his neck, she could not bring him close enough. He slid her nearly to the edge of the counter, their bodies so close that not even a ray of light could get between them.  
  
It seemed to go on for hours, but Vaughn was determine not to lose his wits. He carefully backed off, swallowing hard as Sydney's legs unwound from around his waist. Her cheeks were flushed and her breath came out in small puffs. He never wanted anyone so badly in his life. They were so close...  
  
"You're welcome," she said hoarsely, touching her lips.  
  
Vaughn helped her down from the counter. Hand in hand, they walked silently to the front door and he helped her into her coat. Sydney smiled and caught the front of his shirt in her hands.  
  
"We will do this agan," she said firmly.  
  
"I go shopping every other Thursday," he said. "Maybe I'll see you there."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
Sydney kissed him one last time and then she was gone.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Jack Bristow stewed in his car as he watched the front door of Michael Vaughn's building. It had taken an immense amount of skill and timing to prevent anything, CIA or SD-6 agent, from finding out about her dinner date with Agent Vaughn. He thought of a million things he could say to Sydney and to her handler about the irresponsible way they were acting.  
  
He straightened when he saw the familiar figure of his daughter emerge and when he saw her face, all the words he had been planning to say flew out of his head. The expression on her beautiful face was a mixture of rapture and sadness. He saw her touch two fingers to her lips thoughtfully and smile. Jack could see even from this distance that Sydney had let it go too far, that she had fallen in love with her handler. He sighed and knew he would be doing this for many more nights to come. He knew as well as anyone that she deserved this, this chance to be young and free even if it was only for a few stolen hours. As her father, he wanted to give her this.  
  
Waiting until she drove away, Jack started up his car. He gave the building one last look, spotting the window that was Vaughn's apartment and saw a shadow standing there. Sighing, he drove away.  
  
  
  
*~*THE END*~*  
  
  
  
-----------------  
  
Author's Note: These characters are not mine, but I hope you enjoyed the story anyway. Thanks to everyone who reviewed it.  
  
  
  
. 


End file.
